Name: Refuge | Refusal | Refueling
Start: 2026-01-09T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Kitchen Theatre Company

Playwright, poet, comedian, actor, and community leader Michelle Courtney Berry takes the Kitchen Theatre lobby stage for an evening that’s equal parts retrospective and revival. Intimate and immediate, Refuge | Refusal | Refueling weaves theater, comedy, poetry, and song into a cabaret-style gathering that invites both longtime followers and brand-new audiences into Michelle's body of work.
Named one of the country's most empowering women by Womenpreneur Magazine, Michelle will draw upon her favorite works from her one-woman shows (Labor, The Month of Not Speaking, and Mother Land) and ensemble plays (Song for Root and River and Breathe) to offer attendees a night of refreshing honesty, humor, vulnerability, and fierce love for her adopted community for the past 25 years.
Structured around three movements—Refuge (the space we claim), Refusal (the stand we take), and Refueling (the fire we keep)—this one-night cabaret blends laughter and gravity, story and song, resistance and renewal.
The Kitchen Cabaret Series is a collaboration between the Kitchen Theatre Company and Story House Ithaca. Savor the sounds of a local musician, the words of a poet, or the movements of a dancer. With these one-night-only performances, you get an up-close taste of the vibrant talent in our community.
Tickets are $20 and available through the Kitchen Theatre Company website.
Please join us for an evening of celebration!